The Complete Story of Film Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

The Complete Story of Film Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 31, 2023

The Complete Story of Film encountered so many ultimately hilarious delays in being released on Blu-ray that I started a running joke with another film journalist friend who was getting the same seemingly endless "street date change" announcements from Music Box Films. After each and every PR blast alerting us to yet another delay, I'd ask, "What? Are they including [insert name of movie released that particular week] now?" Hey, when you've advertised your documentary as the complete story, it had better be complete, hadn't it? Of course, since people are still evidently making and releasing films up to and including the very day you may be reading this, a complete story may be well nigh impossible. One way or the other, the long wait for The Complete Story of Film may be worth it for those who like a whirlwind tour through decades of international cinema, with an approach which amounts to a more or less "meta" demonstration of so-called "montage theory", though there may be some stylistic and even content quirks here that could chafe against certain sensibilities. Written, directed and narrated by Mark Cousins (to frankly varying effect), The Story of Film: An Odyssey was first broadcast in 2011, and then a decade later Cousins followed things up with The Story of Film: A New Generation, which premiered at Cannes in 2021. This Blu-ray collection aggregates both pieces in a four disc set.

For reviews of the two documentaries included with this release, please click on the following links:

The Story of Film: An Odyssey Blu-ray review

The Story of Film: A New Generation Blu- ray review

The Complete Story of Film Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.

The Complete Story of Film Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.

The Complete Story of Film Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The only on disc supplement is a Trailer (HD; 1:27) for The Story of Film: A New Generation, which is offered on Disc Four of this four disc release. However, the very nicely designed quasi-DigiPack (all cardboard which unfolds into five sections, with discs in cardboard sleeves) features a wonderful insert booklet which rather incredibly lists all of the films utilized, so that those interested might go back and do their own independent research.

The Complete Story of Film Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

You may not always agree with Mark Cousins, but chances are you will be impressed by his ability to create connections between films. The Complete Story of Film is both exhaustive and exhausting, and comes Recommended.